


Walk Softly

by AquosEvolved



Series: Unwearied Heart [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Hoshido | Birthright Route, I don't really know what to call this - it's not angst but it can't really be considered fluff, Post-Canon, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27221101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquosEvolved/pseuds/AquosEvolved
Summary: Azura works on getting back her balance.[Day 4, Ripple]
Relationships: Aqua | Azura/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: Unwearied Heart [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982824
Kudos: 4





	Walk Softly

“Hold, two, three, four…”

Azura slowly - if not also shakily - breathed out through her nose.

“Keep holding...seven, eight…”

She swayed on the spot. The water around her began to ripple and Corrin’s easy hold on her hips tightened, but only just; from ghosting against her to feathery light.

“And release…”

Exhaling a bit more forcefully, Azura lowered her left leg until her foot was firmly planted in the coarse sand at the bottom of the pond. 

“ _ Our pond,” _ Corrin liked to call it. She initially responded by teasing him and claiming that it was  _ her _ pond. He was just a guest. Naturally, with him being himself, Corrin went wide-eyed and flustered. But, with Azura being herself, she knew her love well and stopped the string of apologies ready to leap from his mouth before it could even start.

“ _ Our _ pond.” Azura agreed with a slightly strained giggle and a hand cupped around his jaw. “I have many memories of this place, but I want to make more. With you.”

Corrin beamed at her. She couldn’t find even a single trace of the tight, pensive look that she worried was becoming the new norm for him.

For now, their pond was a spot for aquatherapy; a practice she began at the royal physicians’ urging. Stretching, swimming, diving, holding her breath, and holding poses. Mostly the first and last of those. Something about water being an environment with better native resistance. She honestly hadn’t really paid much attention when the discussion happened.

Lucky her, then, that Corrin had listened raptly. He then lept at the prospect of learning the various stretches and poses the doctors wanted Azura to do. Nothing extreme - compared to some of the dance moves she’d pulled off in the failed assassination attempt in Cyrkensia, it was all quite tame. She wanted to get back to a point of balance, flexibility, and energy - loath as she was to admit it,  _ desperate _ was a good descriptor for that want - but agreed to take it slow.

For now, though, she was going through some basic poses, moving at Corrin’s instruction. 

“Ready?” He asked from his spot behind her. Azura responded with a nod and affirmative hum. “You’ll let me know if you need a break, right?”

The blue-haired woman held back a sigh. If she thought he was overbearing before, she was woefully unprepared for how worried, protective, and doting he’d become after the war’s end.

“I’m fine, Corrin.” She insisted, avoiding pet names of any kind to show how serious she was.

“Alright, alright…” The defeat in his voice was playful, of course. “Now, arms in front of your chest…”

Azura did as instructed, pressing her hands together at chest level.

“Now, bring your foot up…”

She brought her right foot up and pressed it against her left thigh, mirroring her pose from earlier. Before the instruction came, Azura raised her hands over her head. A basic tree pose. One she  _ really _ didn’t need help practicing, but neither Corrin nor the royal physicians would listen to her. 

“Focus on your breathing, two, three, four…”

As instructed, Azura focused on her breathing. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and let everything else slip away, including her exasperation at her beloved. Not remained in her mind but the water around her and the rhythm of her breath. With each exhale, the next inhale became more and more strained.

She started to wobble on the spot. The water that pooled around her waist softly rippled. She tightened her core and held her breath to try to steady herself. A few more seconds was all she could bear; she dropped her foot and exhaled sharply.

Azura turned to look over her shoulder, entirely expecting Corrin to be even closer behind her, wide-eyed with worry. Much to her surprise, he had backed toward the shallows with a considerable distance between them. She had let herself get so caught up, she hadn't noticed him pulling away. When he noticed her looking at him, Corrin grinned at her proudly. Azura smiled back.


End file.
